Ch. 1 Key Terms

Question 1

Real property

Answer 1

Land, attachments, and appurtenances

Question 2

Personal Property

Answer 2

Anything that is not real property; its main characteristic is movability

Question 3

Appurtenance

Answer 3

A right incidental to the land that is transferred with it. It may include any or all of these:

• air rights
• water rights
• solid mineral rights
• oil and gas rights
• support rights

Question 4

Emblements

Answer 4

Crops, such as wheat, produced annually through the labor of the cultivator

Question 5

Trade fixtures

Answer 5

personal property attached to real property by a tenant for use in a trade or business. Trade fixtures are removable by the tenant.

Question 6

Air rights

Answer 6

The right to use the airspace above a particular parcel of land as long as it does not impede air traffic. BUT if air traffic interferes with a landowner’s right to normal use of his land and causes substantial harm, he may sue for compensation or force the government to condemn the property and compensate him for its fair market value.

Question 7

Riparian rights

Answer 7

The water rights of a landowner whose land borders on a stream, a lake, or other body of water. It allows only reasonable use of the water.

Question 8

Riparian land

Answer 8

Land bordered by flowing water, such as a stream or river.

Question 9

Littoral land

Answer 9

Land bordered by a stationary body of water, such as a lake or pond or even an ocean.

Question 10

Appropriative rights

Answer 10

Water rights established by obtaining a government permit and not based on ownership of land beside a body of water. It isn’t necessary for the applicant to own land beside the body of water and does not have to be used on property adjacent to the water source.

Question 11

Prior appropriative rights

Answer 11

Applies to ground and surface water. Mainly used in western Washington where water resources are often scare and therefore carefully controlled. If someone fails to use the water for a certain period of time, he may lose his water rights.

Question 12

Overlying rights (Ground Water)

Answer 12

In regards to ground water in aquifers beneath a landowners property, the landowner may use this water (such as a well) without a permit. BUT it may not be transported for use on or off property.

Question 13

Solid Mineral rights

Answer 13

A landowner owns all the solid minerals within the “inverted pyramid” under the surface of her property. These are considered real property until they are extracted from the earth, at which point they become personal property. Mineral rights can be sold separately from the rest of the property.

Question 14

Easement

Answer 14

The right to enter the land of a landowner under certain circumstances, such as when mineral rights are obtained

Question 15

Oil and Gas rights

Answer 15

Once a reservoir has been tapped and a well established, it becomes governed by the “rule of capture”. Any oil or gas that gets produced from the well becomes that landowner’s personal property.

Question 16

Support rights

Answer 16

A piece of land that is physically supported by the other land that surrounds it. A landowner has the right to the natural support provided by the land beside and beneath her property.

Question 17

Lateral support

Answer 17

The physical support that a piece of land receives from the surrounding/adjacent land.

Question 18

Subjacent support

Answer 18

The physical support that a piece of land receives from the underlying earth.

Question 19

Natural attachments

Answer 19

Anything that is attached to the earth by roots. This is considered part of the real property. Although, crops to be harvested are treated as personal property. Ex: An orchard of cultivated apple trees would be realty, but the apples would be considered personal.

Question 20

Doctrine of Emblements

Answer 20

A special rule that applies to crops planted by a tenant farmer. If the tenancy is for an indefinite period of time and the tenancy is terminated through no fault of the tenant before the crops are ready for harvest the tenant has the right to re-enter the land and harvest the first crop that matures after the tenancy is terminated.

Question 21

Man-mad attachments: Fixtures

Answer 21

Items that have been attached to the land by people. Ex: a house, a fence, a gazebo. This is considered part of the real property. A fixture is transferred to the buyer along with the land unless otherwise agreed.

Question 22

Bill of Sale in real estate

Answer 22

A bill of sales conveys title to personal property from a seller to a buyer pertaining to personal property located on the real property.

Question 23

Fixture Tests

Answer 23

• Method of attachment
• Adaptation to the property (adapted for use on a particular property)
• Intention of the annexor (did the owner intend the fixture to be personal or permanent)
• Relationship of the parties

Question 24

Metes and bounds

Answer 24

A system of land description in which the boundaries of a parcel of land are described by reference to monuments, courses, and distances.

Question 25

Monument

Answer 25

A visible marker (natural or artificial) used in a survey or a metes and bounds description to establish the boundaries of a piece of property.

Question 26

Point of beginning

Answer 26

The starting point in a metes and bounds description; a monument or a point described by reference to a monument.

Question 27

Course

Answer 27

In a metes and bounds description, a direction, stated in terms of a compass bearing.

Question 28

Distance

Answer 28

In a metes and bounds description, the length of a boundary, measured in any convenient unit of length.

Question 29

Government survey

Answer 29

A system of land description in which the land is divided into squares called townships, and each township is, in turn, divided up into 36 sections, each one square mile.

Question 30

Principal meridian

Answer 30

In the government survey system, the main north-south line in a particular grid, used as the starting point in numbering the ranges and township tiers.

Question 31

Range

Answer 31

In the government survey system, a strip of land six miles wide, running north and south.

Question 32

Township

Answer 32

The intersection of a range and a township tier in the government survey system. It is a parcel of land that is six miles square and contains 36 sections.

Question 33

Section

Answer 33

One square mile of land, containing 640 acres. There are 36 sections in a township.

Question 34

Government lot

Answer 34

In the government survey system, a parcel of land that is not a regular section. (does not make a perfect square)

Question 35

Lot and block

Answer 35

The system of description used for subdivided land. The properties within a subdivision are assigned lot numbers on a plat map, and the plat map is recorded; the location and dimensions of a particular lot can be determined by consulting the recorded plot. This must be recorded in the county where the land is located.

Question 36

Air lot

Answer 36

A parcel of property above the surface of the earth, not containing any land; for example, a condominium unit on the third floor occupies an air lot.